How Can I Tell If I Have a Viton Gasket?

Gaskets are the most crucial parts of all hydraulic systems. They help you isolate and insulate several parts of the network to avoid unnecessary and potentially dangerous leaks. Older gasket types were made of various materials, including metals and hybrids that were not as durable as implied. According to the Gorilla Gasket official website, even a single failure at a critical hydraulic system part could be a disaster that would cost you a fortune to repair.

Luckily, today we have gaskets made from Viton material. It’s useful to know more about Viton and its exceptional features, allowing it to be the most preferred material for gasket manufacturing worldwide. People who work with gaskets know that their core material makes them last more and gives you 100% protection against accidental spills and leaks.

What Is Viton Material?

Viton is a registered trademark of Chemours company experimenting with new chemical compounds for several years now. A specific isomer of fluorocarbon (FKM) belongs to the organic compounds that don’t form spontaneously in nature. It’s a synthetic, elastic rubber material ideal for o-rings in aircraft engineering and fuel circulation systems.

The most impressive feature of Viton material is its durability against a wide range of temperatures. It can retain its molecular structure from freezing temperatures (reaching -13F) to extremely hot ones (close to 446F). For that reason, Viton gaskets are easy to operate in flaming conditions without melting or cracking on the surface.

Another important benefit of Viton is the resistance to corrosive chemical compounds like acids and bases. It can absorb the liquid chemical material to its mass without reacting with it. However, even the slightest presence of common rubber close to Viton material could cancel its features. That happens because common rubber may swell every time liquids pass through its mass and create issues with the metallic parts of the hydraulic systems.

Finally, Viton shows an incredible ability to deal with fuels like high-octane and oxygenated petrol blends. It’s important to know that all fuel distributors use Viton gaskets on their infrastructures and vehicles that get along well with ethanol and methanol fuels. Transmission oils that are usually corrosive have a neutral impact on the Viton gaskets, and that’s why vehicle manufacturers prefer Viton o-rings for their systems.

The Safe Way To Know If Your Car Has A Viton Gasket

There are many ways to inspect your car and check out for leaks and other issues. If you have a car manufactured in the past decade, you are more likely to have the Viton gasket technology applied in your motor, fuel, and other crucial hydraulic systems. Your motor has many gaskets sealing the fuel and exhaust pipes. These work under tremendous pressure and elevated temperature levels. When you replace your head gasket, you can easily check its material. Most of the time, quality cars manufacturers use the Viton gaskets to ensure increased durability and zero chances for destructive leakage.

Another place to check for Viton gaskets would be the transmission system. It’s easy to understand that your transmission planet gears are baptized in transmission oil. After several years of constant use, automatic transmissions could use a gasket replacement. Viton gaskets are the best solution for every automatic transmission system since they can handle corrosive agents, dangerous chemicals, and higher pressures developed there as the vehicle runs.

If you own a car, you know about the crucial role of the air conditioning system. Freon is the fluid that passes through the copper pipes of the air conditioning system, creating the temperature alternation between the external and the internal environment. That fluid is extremely corrosive and flammable. It is more likely to have a Viton gasket where the air conditioning pipes connect to ensure the proper protection against corrosion and pressure changes.

The fuel flow pipes are certainly the last part of your car you would expect to find a Viton gasket. Many manufacturers prefer to place Viton gaskets where the fuel pipes connect to give more resistance against pressure and chemical reactions. As mentioned before, Viton material shows a neutral behavior against fuels like methanol and ethanol, or even against high-octane fluids. That’s how it protects your fuel flow and adds to your security when driving your car.

How Can You Say The Difference Between Viton and Other Similar Materials?

Sometimes Viton is confused with Buna, another similar rubber-like material manufactured in laboratories. Even though they look the same at a glance, the experts could easily identify each one after a thorough examination. Viton is one of the few elastic materials that can withstand temperatures up to 446F. That is not the case with Buna, which is vulnerable and melts over 250F. Even a slight temperature change could show you that a Viton gasket will stay stable compared to the others made from Buna.

The most secure way to ensure that your gasket is made of Viton would be to apply a corrosive chemical compound on it. Typically, both Viton and Buna are resistant to chemicals, but Viton has superior durability. You can see a superficial alteration on Buna mass when you apply such chemical agents, and then you would know if you have a Viton gasket for real.

These two materials also have differences in the pressure levels they can withstand. Genuine Viton gaskets are used in steam pipelines and fuel pumps where the pressure can reach or even exceed 50 Atm. Smaller-scale hydraulic systems where liquid or gas pressure is mediocre can bear to have Buna gaskets.

Viton gasket technology has been used widely in the past years with great success. Technicians all around the world prefer to work with Viton gaskets to safeguard the longevity of their infrastructure. Even though Viton is less affordable than other similar materials, its superior quality makes it cheaper in the long run. That happens because you will need a Viton gasket replacement less often than any other material you have tried so far.